Arrangement for securing panels to the surface of a roof or wall



Sept. 5, 1967 E T BERG ARRANGEMENT FOR l.SECURNG PANELS TO THE SURFACE OF A ROOF OR WALL Filed May 18, 1965 28o 35 d, 30 ,l ,n v ,U

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Edward T Berg United States Patent O 3,339,329 ARRANGEMENT FOR SECURING PANELS TO THE SURFACE OF A ROOF OR WALL Edward T. Berg, 187 Fremont St., Sau Francisco, Calif. 94105 Filed May 18, 1965, Ser. No. 456,672 2 Claims. (Cl. 52--395) ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE 9A panel cover for roofs or Walls comprising inverted channel members with outwardly turned end flanges which are nailed to the surface lof the wall or roof. The bight portions of the channel members are provided with centrally located clefts and the side walls of these clefts slant downwardly toward each other to form a constriction, and expand abruptly below said constriction to form downwardly directed shoulders. Blocks of insulating material with dished panels laminated thereon are supported upon the flanges of the channel members and pads of sealing compounds are laid over the space between adjacent panels and the bight portions of the -channel members. The pads of sealing compound and the panels are held in place by bars of T-shaped cross section whose stem portions form downwardly directed'wedges. These stems pass through the pads of sealing compound, protrude into the clefts of the channel members and have the bases of their Wedge-shaped ends engaged underneath the shoulders lbelow the constrictions in the clefts of the channel members.

The present invention relates to roofs or walls that are covered with panels of metal or plastic material.

One method of covering a roof or wall with panels is to place inverted channels of sheet metal or plastic material provided with outwardly turned anges upon the surface to be covered along the lines where the joints between the panels are expected to be located, and to secure these channels firmly to the surface, such as by means of nails driven through the flanges at suitable intervals. The panels themselves are of dished conformation and are preferably laminated onto rectangular blocks of a suitable insulating material. The panel-covered blocks are placed into the rectangular spaces dened by and between the inverted channels in such a manner that they rest upon the flanges of said channels. Along their bottom edges the dished panels are provided with outwardly directed lips and when the panel-covered blocks areplaced into the space between the inverted channels, the lips of the panels come to rest upon the outer surface of the bight portions of these channels. To establish weatheretight seals between adjacent panels, pads of a plastic sealing compound are then placed into the trough-like recesses between the side Walls of adjacent panels and above their lips and the bight portion of the channel upon which said lips rest, and bars of metal or plastic material are placed upon said pads and are secured through said pads and the space between the confronted lips to the bight portion of the channel by screw means under suicient pressure to deform the pads of plastic material so that they ow against the side walls of the lips and establish weather-tight seals. The securernent of these pressure bars to the bight portions ofthe inverted channels by means of screws that are applied at intervals longitudinally of the bar, presents certain difficulties, especially to unskilled labor, and in any case is cumbersome, time-consuming and therefore costly.

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It is an object of my invention to provide a simple and effective arrangement, in installations of the type referred to, for securing the panels through the pads of a plastic sealing material to the channels employed to hold them in position.

More particularly, it is an object of my invention to provide an arrangement of the type referred to, by means of which even unskilled labor may secure the panels in a weagther-tight manner and in a minimum of time to the channels employed to hold them in position.

These and other objects -of the present invention will be apparent from the following description of the accompanying drawing which illustrates certain preferred embodiments thereof, and wherein FIGURE 1 is a section through the arrangement of the invention prior to nal assembly thereof;

FIGURE 2 is a fragmentary, sectioned perspective, illustrating the arrangement of the invention in assembled condition; and

FIGURE 3 is a fragmentary section through a modied embodiment of the invention in installed condition.

In the accompanying drawings the reference numeral 10 identifies a roof or wall upon whose outer surface is placed in inverted position a channel member 12 of sheet ymetal or plastic sheet material. The end edges of said channel member are bent outwardly to form flanges 14a and 14b of substantial width, which rest -upon the surface of the roof or wall and which are rigidly secured thereto, such as by means of nails 16 that are driven through said flanges into the roof or wall as shown in FIGURE 2. Placed upon said flanges adjacent the side walls 18a and 18b of the chanel member 12 are rectangular blocks 20 of a suitable insulating material, such as the insulating material known under the name Pesco Board, and laminated onto the top surfaces of said blocks are dished rectangular panels 22 of sheet metal or plastic sheet material. The side Walls 24 of said panels are provided with outwardly turned lips 26 which rest upon opposite sides of the bight portion of the inverted channel member 12. Said bight portion is divided into two parts 28a and 28b of equal width by a centrally located cleft or depression 30 which imparts to said channel member a cross-sectional contour resembling an inverted W. A distance below the mouth of the cleft or depression 30, the side walls 32a and 32b of said cleft slant toward each other to form a throat or constriction 34 and below said constriction the side walls expand abruptly and thus form downwardly directed shoulders 35a and 35b.

Placed upon the bight portions 28a and 28b of the invented channel member 12 is 1a flat pad 36 of a plastic sealing compound, such as the synthetic rubber compound polyisobutylene (FIGURE l). To secure the panel-covered blocks 20 in a weather-,tight manner into position upon the -surface of the roof or wall, it is necessary that the panels be secured to the channel member 12 and that the pad 36 be deformed so that it is pressed against the side walls 25 of the panels .and fills the trough formed between said side walls and above Ithe lips 26 thereof. To simplify this task so that it can be performed by unskilled labor and so that the panels may be `secured in place along a whole joint in a single operation where it was formerly necessary to apply many screws at predetermined intervals longitudinally of the joint, the present invention -provides a locking bar 38 of metal or plastic material which may be at least as long .as the joint between two panels, and depending upon its place of application longitudinally or transversely of the panels, may be of a length equalling the total width of a roof or the total length of a wall. Said locking bar has the crosssectional contour of a T, and its cross bar portion 42 is of a width somewhat less than the space between the side walls of the two adjacently positioned panels 22. Its downwardly directed stem portion 44 resembles the keel of a boat and has a transverse width yabout equal to the width of the throat 34 formed in the cleft 30 of the channel member 12. Near its bottom end, however, the side walls of the keel plate 44 flare outwardly to a limited degree to iform rounded shoulders 45a and 45h, and below said shoulders the side w-alls of the plate converge toward each other to form a relatively sharp-edged, downwardly directed wedge 46 that has a base which is somewhat wider than the thickness of the remaining portion of the keel plate 44.

After a pad of plastic sealing compound has been placed upon the confronted lips 26 of two adjacent panels on the bight portion of a channel member 12, it is now a simple matter to secure the panels to the channel member while deforming the plastic pad so that it may dependably seal the joint between the panels. The workman places the edge of the wedge 46 at the bottom of the keel plate 44 upon the pad 36 in approximate alignment with the cleft in the bight portion of the channel member below the pad. He then presses the edge of wedge 46 through the pad into the mouth of the cleft 30 and pushes it through `the throat 34 thereof. When the diverging surfaces of the wedge enter the funnel formed by the inwardly slanting side wall portions of the cleft and engage the inwardly projecting noses of the shoulders 35a and 3512,4 thereof, said side walls lare easily pried apart since the channel is made of sheet metal and/ or plastic sheet material both of which are usually of a resiliently yieldable nature; and once the wedge 46 has been pushed through the throat 34, the side walls of the cleft 30 return to their initial positions and their inwardly projecting shoulders 35a and 35b close behind the wedge and engage its shoulders 45a and 45h respectively (FIGURE 2), in the manner of a snap lock. The bar 38 is now securely held in engagement with the channel member 12 and through the pad 36 holds the two adjacently located panels 22 dependably in position upon the surface of the roof or wall; and by appropriately dimensioning the vertical depth of the keel plate 44, the cross member 42 of the bar structure 40 may be arranged to exert such pressure upon the pad of plastic sealing compound .as will cause said sealing cornpounds to flow against the side walls of the adjacent panels and form a dependably weather-proof seal between the panels.

The embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URE 3 provides the same simplicity and dependability in holding adjacently positioned panels upon a roof or wall while establishing a weather-tight joint between them, as does the embodiment `of the invention described hereinbefore and illustrated in FIGURES 1 and 2. It has the added advantage of providing a batten above the joints between the adjacent panels, without requiring any additional components and without requiring any additional operations on the workmans part to install the battens. In the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG- URE 3, the dished panels 50 are laminated onto the blocks 52 of a suitable insulating material, but do not require laterally directed lips las do Ithe panels of the embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. The panel-covered blocks 52 `are placed upon the laterally turned end flanges 54a and 54h of an inverted channel member 55 that is suitably secured to the roof or wall 56 upon which the panels are to be installed. The channel member 55 has substantially the same cross-sectional con-tour and performs substantially the same function as does the channel member 12 in the embodiment illustrated in FIGURES l and 2. However, the channel member 55 is of greater depth relative to the panel-covered 4 blocks 52 than is the channel member 12 of FIGURES 1 and 2 so that its bight portions 58a and 58b are located at about the same level as the adjacent panels 50. Placed upon the bight portions 58a and 58b of the channel member is a pad 60 of plastic material which is of such transverse width as to span the gap between the adjacent panels and overlie the adjacent marginal areas of the two panels. The bar structure 62 serves both as a locking device and as batten. Its stem portion 64 is of the same construction as the stern portion 44 of the bar structure illustrated in FIGURES l and 2, but its cross bar portion 65 is sufciently wide to span the gap between the juxtaposed panels and extend lover the marginal areas thereof; and its ends are turned downwardly to form rims or flanges 66a and 66h of limited depth. When the pad 60 has ybeen placed over the bight portions 58a and 58b of the inverted channel member and the marginal areas of the two adjacent panels, the wedge formed at the bottom end of the stem portion of the bar structure 62 is placed centrally upon the pad and pushed through the pad into the mouth of the cleft 70 formed in the bight portion of the channel member, until it passes through and is locked behind the throat 72 formed in said cleft. The depth of the stem portion 64 of the bar structure 62 is so proportioned relative to the location of the throat 72 in the cleft 70 of the channel member that the downwardly directed end flanges 66a Vand 66b of its cross piece member 65 contact and bear down upon the panels Iat either side of the deformed pad 60 when the shoulders of the wedge 68 at the bottom end of the stem portion 64 lare engaged behind the constricting shoulders of the throat 72. Thus, in a single operation, =the two panels are secured to the channel member 55, a weather-tight seal is established between the side walls of the panels, and an ornamental batten 62 is installed over the joint.

While I have explained my invention with the aid of certain preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood that the invention is not limited to the specific constructional details shown and described by way of example, which may be departed from without departing from the scope and spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. Arrangement `of panels upon the surface of a roof or wall, comprising an inverted channel member having a bight portion containing an intermediately located cleft portion, said cleft portion having walls slanting downwardly toward each other to form a constriction and expanding abruptly below said constriction to form downwardly directed shoulders, side walls at either side of said bight portion possessing outwardly turned flanges along their free edges, blocks of insulating material of a greater depth than said -channel member resting upon said flanges, dished panels laminated onto the free surfaces of said blocks, the side walls of said dished panels having laterally directed lips arranged to lie upon said bight portion at either side of said cleft portion thereof, a pad of plastic sealing Icompound larranged between the side walls of said panels and upon the lips thereof, and a locking bar of T-shaped cross-sectional contour having a cross bar portion o-f lesser wid-th than the space between the confronted side walls of the panels and 4a stem portion arranged to pass through said pad and protrude into said cleft portion and having its free bottom end formed into a wedge whose base is wider than the open width of said constriction and is eng-aged underneath said shoulders below said constriction.

2. Arrangement for installing panels upon a wall or cover and providing battens over the joints between adjacent panels comprising an inverted channel member having a bight portion containing an intermediately located cleft portion, said cleft portion having walls slanting downwardly ltoward each other to form a constriction and expanding abruptly below said constriction to form downwardly directed shoulders, side walls at either side of said bight portion possessing outwardly directed flanges along the free edges thereof, blocks of insulating material resting upon said flanges adjacent said side walls, dished panels laminated onto ythe free surfaces of said blocks, said bight por-tion and said panels being level with each other, a pad of a plastic sealing compound arranged over said bight portion and the -adjacent marginal areas of said panels; and means for holding said panel-covered blocks and said pad of plastic sealing compound onto said channel member including a bar of T-shaped cross-sectional contour having :a cross bar portion of a width to overlie the marginal areas of said panels, said cross bar portion being provided with downwardly directed end flanges, and a stem portion of a width adapted to iit int-o said cleft portion and having its free end formed into a downwardly directed wedge, said wedge having a Wider base than the open width of said constriction, said stem portion passing through said pad into said cleft portion and having its wedge-shaped end portion engaged underneath said downwardly directed shoulders below the constriction of said cleft portion, with the end anges of said bar portion bearing against the marginal .areas of the adjacent panels.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 947,009 1/ 1910 Windeknecht 52-463 2,122,869 7/1938 Morris 52-395 2,412,401 1'2/1946 HOlm-Hansen 52-461 2,845,154 7/1958 Dulield 52-460 2,907,287 10/1959 TIOStle 52-461 X 3,199,258 8/1965 Jentoft 52--468 X FOREIGN PATENTS 202,340 7/ 1956 Australia.

FRANK L. ABBOTT, Primary Examiner. M. O. WARNECKE, Assistant Examiner. 

1. ARRANGEMENT OF PANELS UPON THE SURFACE OF A ROOF OR WALL, COMPRISING AN INVERTED CHANNEL MEMBER HAVING A BIGHT PORTION CONTAINING AN INTERMEDIATELY LOCATED CLEFT PORTION, SAID CLEFT PORTION HAVING WALLS SLANTING DOWNWARDLY TOWARD EACH OTHER TO FORM A CONSTRICTION AND EXPANDING ABRUPTLY BELOW SAID CONSTRICTION TO FORM DOWNWARDLY DIRECTED SHOULDERS, SIDE WALLS AT EITHER SIDE OF SAID BIGHT PORTION POSSESSING OUTWARDLY TURNED FLANGES ALONG THEIR FREE EDGES, BLOCKS OF INSULATING MATERIAL OF A GREATER DEPTH THAN SAID CHANNEL MEMBER RESTING UPON SAID FLANGES, DISHED PANELS LAMINATED ONTO THE FREE SURFACES OF SAID BLOCKS, THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID DISHED PANELS HAVING LATERALLY DIRECTED LIPS ARRANGED TO LIE UPON SAID BIGHT PORTION AT EITHER SIDE OF SAID CLEFT PORTION THEREOF, A PAD OF PLASTIC SEALING COMPOUND ARRANGED BETWEEN THE SIDE WALLS OF SAID PANELS AND UPON THE LIPS THEREOF, AND A LOCKING BAR OF T-SHAPED CROSS-SECTIONAL CONTOUR HAVING A CROSS BAR PORTION OF LESSER WIDTH THAN THE SPACE BETWEEN THE CONFRONTED SIDE WALLS OF THE PANELS AND A STEM PORTION ARRANGED TO PASS THROUGH SAID PAD AND PROTRUDE INTO SAID CLEFT PORTION AND HAVING ITS FREE BOTTOM END FORMED INTO A WEDGE WHOSE BASE IS WIDER THAN THE OPEN WIDTH OF SAID CONSTRICTION AND IS ENGAGED UNDERNEATH SAID SHOULDERS BELOW SAID CONSTRICTION. 